Food

“Freedom is not given to us by anyone we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice...no one can prevent you from being aware of each step you take or each breath in and breath out. ”-Thich Nhat Hanh

“Most people see what is, and never see what can be.”-Albert Einstein

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”-Viktor E. Frankl

“The mind is everything; what you think you become.”-Buddha

“Be proud of how far you have come, and have faith in how far you can go.”-Richard Springs

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery, today is a gift, that's why they call it present...”-Source Unknown

“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”-Thich Nhat Hanh

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them.”-Michel De Montaigne

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”-Viktor E. Frankl

“Within you lies a power greater than what lies before you.”-Rhonda Blake

Why is a Daily Food Practice Important?

Good nutrition means good health because a healthy diet will
give your body the right amount of energy and raw materials you
need to stay healthy. Good nutrition will also provide
phyto-chemicals and antioxidants that will help keep you feeling
young, looking great, and perhaps even disease-free. A bad diet, on
the other hand, will give you too many or too few calories, not
enough vitamins and minerals, and will actually make you need more
of the antioxidants that you aren't getting. The foods you choose
to eat can do so much more than fill up your stomach. Eating a
healthy diet may help to reduce your risk of certain health
conditions, while eating a poor quality diet might increase your
chances of feeling bad of becoming ill.

A Daily Food Practice will help you to integrate healthy food
choices into your lifestyle while becoming aware and attentive to
all dimensions of eating. This awareness will in turn allow you to
more fully understand your body and the messages it is giving you.
By making healthy food choices into practices you will be able to
play around with different ones and find those that work best for
your lifestyle and body needs. Then by making these practices
habitual you will be able to maintain them without resistance.

A Note on Mindfulness and Eating

We think mindfulness is key to developing great
habits that come from within. A Daily Food Practice-in
tandem with a Daily Mind Practice-offers a powerful
way to naturally evolve the way you eat. Ultimately, this
awareness of food-of how much you're eating, of what you're doing
when you're eating it, of how it tastes and what's in it-forms the
cornerstone of letting food serve its real purposes of providing
nourishment, energy, pleasure and life.

What is a Daily Food Practice?

A Practice is an activity that you perform
routinely in order to establish a habit. A Daily Food
Practice is a combination of healthy eating practices that
you incorporate into your daily food consumption to allow your body
and mind to work at an optimal level. A Daily Food Practice will
allow you to try out different healthy eating tactics and integrate
healthy food choices into your lifestyle while becoming aware and
attentive to all dimensions of eating. This awareness will in turn
allow you to more fully understand your body and the messages it is
giving you.

In combination with a Daily Mindful Practice, a Daily Food
practice will help you to be more mindful of how, what and why you
eat. By cultivating a more mindful way of eating you can learn how
to enjoy every meal and snack. You can also learn how to let food
serve its true purposes of providing nourishment, energy, pleasure
and a source of life.

A daily food practice could range from eating more fruits and
vegetables to a complete weight loss program. A Daily Food Practice
begins with learning how to "eat smart" - not just what you eat,
but how you eat, being aware of the choices you make and revising
your habits to make them more healthy and beneficial. Mindful Body
recommends beginning your journey by keeping a food journal,
learning some nutrition basics and using them in a way that works
for you.

Examples of practices that could be included in a Daily
Food Practice:

Maintaining a food journal

Eating more fruits & vegetable

Eating 25 grams of fiber per day

What are the Benefits of a Daily Food Practice?

Reduce your risk of illnesses such as heart disease, cancer,
and diabetes

Help you defend against depression and stabilize your mood

Boost your energy

Sharpen your memory

Help you to sleep better and feel more rested when you wake
up

Help to shield against disease by improving bodily functions
and helping to improve immune system.